For an average Keralite, it’s an iconic, easily recognisable image — a face framed by long, tangled locks and intense eyes. The phrase ‘non-conformist’ invariably crops up in the conversation when you discuss him and it is often a name taken with a lot of reverence, uncertainty and everything in between. But google John Abraham and you confront a sea of digital content on the Bollywood star, his affairs and vital statistics. You need to be more specific to read about the avant-garde director, the man who made pathbreaking Amma Ariyan and Agraharathil Kazhuthai .
An abiding inspiration and a true maverick, the story of John Abraham will now come alive on screen through Prem Chand’s 75-minute feature film titled John . Penned by Deedi Damodaran, the film has many of John’s associates and close aides on board making it an earnest cinematic tribute. Prem Chand says he will not call it a cradle-to-grave chronicle, but a micro-level exploration of John’s last days. “You cannot call it a biopic, it’s more of an expedition tracing John’s journeys and the impact he created in cinema. It unravels through the memoirs of his contemporaries and co-artistes,” he says.
Unconventional term
The term unconventional is an understatement when it comes to John, an artiste and ascetic rolled into one. He did not believe in material possessions, lived like a nomad and went to his grave wearing a friend’s shirt. He was often tagged an anarchist and Prem Chand says the film presents him with all his quirks and traits.
Prem Chand says he was always intrigued by John’s activism, “I have known him personally and professionally. I was part of his movement, Odessa, and had attended many discussions with him. I was also a member of the media team that identified John’s body and reported his death. Later, I wrote an article about the last three days of John and the last script he scribbled during the days. My wife Deedi developed the screenplay based on that article.”
He calls the film a documentation of John’s last hours in a zigzag style featuring many of John regulars in its cast and crew. “You will find Harinarayanan from Amma Ariyan to John’s sister Shantha in the film.”
John is a film totally devoid of any commercial content. “We are not targeting the mainstream audience. When you make a film on someone like John, you cannot resort to any mediocre gimmick. So there has been no compromise to accommodate anything remotely marketable.” He adds the focus of the film is on John the filmmaker and his relentless battle to free cinema from the clutches of monetary concerns. “Unlike other art forms, cinema requires a solid capital. It took him five years to finish Agraharathil Kazhuthai , that too when his sister came forward to fund it,” he says.
In Amma Ariyan, John tried something novel, the 80s prototype of crowd funding called Odessa Collective. He wanted to produce independent works of art funded by the masses to prevent any kind of intervention in the content and creativity. Prem Chand says even three decades after John’s demise, the scene has not changed much as no established name in the industry seemed interested in a film on John. “They had too many questions on the commercial viability of the film.” He waited for five years, till he was equipped to make the film without bowing to any mainstream demands.
“It’s my daughter Mukta and her team who handled the production side. Then, all artistes and technicians involved in the film worked without any remuneration,” he says. The film was completed in 18 days in six small schedules in Kottayam, Kozhikode and Kochi.
